here are some cards from 2015 topps series 2

well, topps finally put don mattingly on a card in their flagship set, but they did so on a josh beckett highlight/checklist card

it's not even a final tribute card for beckett.  still, i like it.

i bought a dodger team set on ebay, and found that topps went horizontal a few more times for the dodgers in their series two set - here's the 'team' card

plus two more clayton kershaw cards - cy young

and mvp

it's been said before, but i would prefer the checklist expansion topps heralded this year provide cards for the likes of justin turner and scott van slyke and even juan nicasio instead of four kershaw cards.  i don't mind the base (obviously) or the highlight/checklist cards, but award winner cards are not my favorite. i'd rather see other players from the roster at that point.  along those lines, here's carlos frias

most of the other dodgers from series two were shown in the recent flagship vs. factory set post, and i've only scanned a few cards from a blaster i purchased.  i did get this nolan ryan/sandy koufax eclipsing history insert

about which i have three comments.  first, the design of this insert (and all of the inserts in series two that i've seen) is really boring.  second, the history that ryan is eclipsing was established by koufax as a los angeles dodger, not a brooklyn dodger.  third, if ryan is eclipsing koufax, shouldn't he be in the foreground?  details, i suppose.

there were three twins cards that i chose to scan - the first being this ervin santana card

santana takes the mound for the first time as a twin today after serving his suspension for ped use.  i thought that topps would wait and include him in update as a result.

i like this jordan schafer card

a couple of years ago it would have likely been a variation short print, so it's nice to see topps using good photos for base cards.  schafer was released by the twins just a couple of days before i saw this card, by the way.

here's another twinkies card that features target field

with a clean-shaven joe mauer in the foreground and oswaldo arcia's back on the jumbotron.

i'll finish up this series two post with a couple of double plays - dj lemahieu

and joe panik

i was hoping for another justin turner dp in series two, but i guess i'll have to wait for update.

oh, did you think i was done with double play cards from bo?

well, i wasn't.  here are some more that are new to my collection:

1993 donruss tony fernandez (back)

i'll show the front of this card in yet another post of cards from bo, but on the back, tony the padre is turning two.

here's a 1995 pinnacle john valentin card

featuring a double play on tatooine

1996 pinnacle robby thompson

with just a bit of the lead runner's helmet to confirm the turn

1996 score alex arias

and 1996 score jeff reboulet

are more obvious examples of the pivot

as are 1998 fleer tradition jose offerman

and 1998 topps stadium club gary disarcina

bo even included some minor league dp's.  here's a 1999 just minors brent butler card

plus three 1999 team best baseball america top prospects - ron belliard

chad durham

and brett taft

that is some dedication to a trade package.  thanks again, bo!

more double play knowledge from bo

the double play turns were many in the package i received recently from bo, he of baseball cards come to life.  here are some more that were new to my collection:

1991 topps stadium club tony phillips

bonus appearance by the cobra

1991 leaf scott leius gold bonus

also featuring a brewer, but not dave parker. more like mike felder.

1993 pinnacle craig grebeck

i am assuming here that there is only one reason why grebeck would be airborne, and that is to turn two.

1993 topps stadium club william suero

with paul sorrento doing his best to break things up, but to no avail - suero made the turn and threw sandy alomar out at first on april 26, 1992.

here's the back of suero's card

which is his first topps issued card, because the front shows up on the back.

1993 upper deck jeff frye

not sure how i did not already have this one in the binder.

1994 score gary disarcina

with a hrbek sighting

and 1994 score rey sanchez

featuring a high kick from tom pagnozzi

1994 upper deck doug strange

featuring the double play turn on the front of the card, and 1994 upper deck ozzie guillen

with the turn on the back

1996 donruss pat listach

featuring a brewer turning two rather than trying to break it up

and, finally, two cards featuring the double play turning mainstay, brent gates.  first up is his 1996 topps stadium club card

followed by a 1995 fleer flair card

two has been turned.  thanks again, bo!

archives reminded me of something

i did buy a blaster (value box) of 2015 topps archives at target last week, and used my $5 off coupon correctly in doing so.  i didn't come across any dodgers, but did get a card of former dodger dee gordon

which features the los angeles dodgers bat knob decal, even though he's in marlins gear.  and, let's just say that i am glad that the marlins weren't around in 1976 because the color combo topps went with for their cards in the 1976 design is gross.

seeing dee's card, however, as well as that of daniel murphy

and brian dozier

reminded me that i am collecting the second baseman cards from 1976 topps for my double play collection.  keeping dozier's card in mind, here's another twins card with the same design - 1976 topps jerry terrell

topps kept the double play figures, but changed the wording from the place where one plays, to who one is on the ball field.  not sure why.  brian dozier is a second baseman, while jerry terrell played second base.  both are acceptable as far as i am concerned.

here are some other 1976 topps cards featuring men who played second base according to the set.

tito fuentes

and his teammate hector torres

bruce miller

jack brohamer

rod gilbreath

kurt bevacqua

whom tommy lasorda was not a fan of, and his teammate bob sheldon

sandy alomar

who would be replaced in the bronx by willie randolph

larry lintz

who replaced herb washington as the designated pinch-runner for charlie finley's a's - seriously, he played in 68 games for the a's in 1976, but only spent parts of 5 of those games in the field at second base, with only 3 other games including time at other defensive positions.  he did steal 31 bases, however, and it would have been fantastic for topps to have a pinch-runner position in this set.  alas, they did not.

last, but not least, future dodger teddy martinez

many of these players had multiple positions listed on the backs of their cards, but there could only be one position on the front in 1976.

i haven't gone through my 1976 set to figure out how many more i need for the dp collection, but i know that there are two i don't - joe morgan and rod carew both had the double play wiped out by the all-star star on their cards.  as for 2015 topps archives, i know i need kolten wong (my non-dodger bonus nefarious 9 need), but there may be others.  i could use a little help...

when a dodger card isn't fully a dodger card

sometimes, team collectors can miss out on cards that they may otherwise choose to add to their collection.  for example, this 1992 topps kids eddie murray card

shows him as a dodger, but then again - he is 'now with the mets!'.  is it a dodger card or a met card?  i consider it to be a non-dodger dodger card. so there.

here are some others that fit that bill (and fit into my collection as a result):

1993 donruss rudy seanez

a dodger up until the expansion draft

2000 pacific crown collection raul mondesi

pacific almost fooled me, using a photo of rauuuuuuul in the blue dodger alt jersey

2000 skybox dominion raul mondesi

obviously a dodger in all but team name on the card

2004 upper deck first pitch brian jordan

a while back i took a good look at the flagship version of this card. then i came across the first pitch version

and then there is this 2014 topps stickers joe mauer sticker

mauer is wearing the saint paul saints throwback in a game against the brewers in 2013 (i was at that game, by the way).  the saints uniform he is wearing comes from the time when they were a dodger affiliate.  in fact, there are some pictures hanging in one of the target field restaurants recognizing both the saints and the minneapolis millers (a giants' affiliate) as part of the twin cities' baseball fabric.  the photo for the saints features roy campanella rounding third being congratulated by walt alston.  pretty cool.  the millers photo features some guy named willie mays.  anyway, the mauer sticker is not a dodger card, but a cool item that i pulled from a pack and sent off to 2x3 heroes - i think.

if i haven't, i will - i've got quite a few packages ready to be sent out to folks, including baseball cards come to life, night owl, off hiatus, too many verlanders, bob walk the plank, and probably a couple of others.  you can always check my trade tracker on the right to see if i am aware that i owe you cards - let me know if i do and you don't see your name!